Ryan Naderi is the first to admit he’ll never have Youssef Chermiti’s eye for the spectacular. But the Rangers striker will be happy so long as his new-found nose for goal keeps sniffing out sclaffs.
Chermiti got off to a slow start at Ibrox last year but quickly announced himself as Gers’ main man up top with his knack for stunning strikes. Pick of the bunch was his outrageous Old Firm overhead kick, while there was another screamer at Falkirk on the final day of the season. But before he could get his sights fixed on goal this term, his campaign was cruelly cut short by a nightmare knee injury that will rule the Portuguese ace out for up to nine months.
Naderi steps up after Chermiti injury
As devastating as that news was for Chermiti, it’s handed Naderi an opportunity to stake a claim up front for Derek McInnes’ new-look Light Blues. And he’s wasted no time getting on the goal trail after a troubled start last year.
Gers made a deadline day dash to land the £5million frontman from Hansa Rostock but that costly fee bought them a grand total of just three goals in his first season at Ibrox. But he’s almost matched that tally already this term having netted in back-to-back wins over St Mirren and Conference League play-off opponents Jablonec. Neither effort will trouble Chermiti’s effort in the aesthetic stakes, though.
Scruffy goals still count
Naderi’s Saints opener was a scruffy effort, with the ball bouncing off his thigh and into the net from a Djeidi Gassama knock down. And he did his best to miss Thursday night’s tap-in against the Czechs as he skewed a close-range finish into the top corner.
But as far as Naderi was concerned, both were a thing of beauty. Looking back on the narrow 1-0 win, the 23-year-old said: “It was tough for everyone. I don’t score the most spectacular goals but at the end of the day I'm just happy that I somehow put it over the line. That’s what a striker has to do. I'm just happy to help the team. The most important thing is winning and keeping the momentum going.
“I think it's the responsibility for the whole team to score goals while Youssef is injured in all honesty. With Youssef, we’re missing a unique type of player, so we have to try as a team to fill the gap. Obviously, someone has to score the goals, and as I said, I'm lucky to be the one who at the moment gets the ball over the line. But it's the whole team who has to fill this gap.”
Team effort and progress
Naderi might not have got himself on the scoresheet much last term but it was his selfless running that opened up the space for Chermiti to pounce as he dragged defenders away from his strike partner. Now he’s the one benefiting as the rest of the team work to service his needs up top. But Naderi insists he’ll happily go back to putting in the hard yards if it keeps Gers’ fledgling resurgence rolling.
“I like both roles,” he said. “Obviously, these are the things you have to do with the second striker next to you. I'm someone who likes to work a lot for the team and this doesn't change even if I'm the lone striker. So I try to work a lot but when I’m with the second striker, I just try my best to work for the team. I'm OK if the other striker shines a bit more. But right now, I'm just happy that things go well, and as I said, we have to stay focused.
“It's not that we have to play so amazing and everything is perfect, but it's just about going in the right direction, and we have to keep this up.”
Gers were far from perfect against Jablonec. Having stormed past Saints to reach the Premier Sports Cup quarters, the Ibrox faithful turned out hoping to see another five-star show. Instead it was a repeat of the laboured displays that dogged McInnes’ first four games in charge.
“I agree but obviously we don't play against just ‘some’ opponent,” said Naderi. “We’re here to qualify for the European competitions, so obviously your opponent is tough. I agree that the first half wasn't amazing but I'm happy that we kept a clean sheet. That was really important on Thursday. We had opportunities to score one or two goals more, but at the end it's just about keeping up the confidence, a second win in a row. Now we have to keep going and stay focused. That’s important.
“Not everything was horrible in the games before. It's just that we managed to win those games now. But it's still progress we're going through and we still have to improve. But we're going in the right direction. We have a lot of new players this season. It's normal in football now. Things change fast. It's about the old players welcoming the new players well and the new players adapting quickly. I think both happens here. We just have to stay humble. Part of the reality is that we just haven't had the best start but we're improving.
“I'm confident that over time we'll get better and better.”
Czech connection for second leg
Although born in Dresden, Naderi has Czech blood from his mother’s side - and he’s looking forward to having some home comforts on hand when he heads to her homeland for next week’s second leg against Jablonec.
He said: “My story is that my mum is from the Czech Republic. My grandma lives there too, so I can speak Czech. It's not as good as it used to be because I was still at school when I’d visit. I used to go there on holidays.
“For me, it's a nice match. I’m looking forward to it. I'll have family there to support us. Obviously, it is something special, but for me it's something special because it's just qualifying games for a European competition. These are the nights you want to play, and this is the special part for me. I don't care who we play.”
